Sunset Over Wai Momi
by JC's angel
Summary: *after the movie* Evelyn ponders about the past few months and why life works in mysterious ways. (i suck at summaries, just read please!) rated R for some language and a sex scene.


Begun:01-07-02 10:55 p.m.  
  
Finished: 01-08-01 9:53 p.m.  
  
Edited:01-09-02 9:09 p.m.  
  
Disclaimer: You know what? This probably has been done a lot, but oh well. And I haven't read any stories where they take this to the next level, so don't blame me and tell me that I've stolen your idea. Cause I haven't! This just came through my own, strange and horny little mind when I was watching the love scene (for like the 12th time), that it's not fair that they don't show Josh Hartnett in the buff. I'd probably faint, but it'd still be nice. So, anyway this is my story, told from the point of view of Evelyn, who I am deeply jealous of. God, she gets to make it with Danny! Anyway, I don't own Danny(why the hell not?), Rafe, or Evelyn or the Pearl Harbor story line or any of the other characters. I do however, own this plot and this story and if you steal it I'll sue. I need the money to get a Mustang Convertible. So steal it..go ahead. I'll just take your money :-)  
  
Note: If you have a copy or MP3 of Faith Hill's "There You'll Be," I suggest that you listen to it on repeat when reading this. It just seems to fit the story.  
  
  
  
~Sunset Over Wai Momi~  
  
When I saw Rafe descending the steps with Danny's coffin in hand, I didn't want to believe he was dead. But reality closed upon me like a speeding fighter plane as I saw Danny's flight jacket on the coffin. The one thing of Danny's whole uniform that he was proud of.  
  
"Evelyn.." He'd say."They could offer to trade me all the medals in the world for that jacket, and I still wouldn't give it to them. I'm gonna have this jacket till the day I die." He'd say in that deep, slightly gravelly voice that used to set my stomach a flutter.  
  
Rafe tried to comfort me then, but it was no use. My head was a chaos of thoughts and images, and I needed time to get away from it all. I brushed Rafe off and went for a walk on the beach, to clear my head. The roar of the sea waves helped to calm me. But when the realization that he was gone hit me,I sank to the sand ,and began to cry. Danny, my beloved Danny, father of my unborn baby, was gone. I cried till I couldn't cry no more and as I looked up, I realized that I was at the spot where Danny had taken me for a picnic and he almost got his car stuck in the sand. He was cussing under his breath as he tried to get his "baby" free. I laughed through my tears and looked up to see the sun starting to set behind the horizon of the waters of Pearl Harbor. My throat choked up once again as I went back to that fateful night when Danny took me up in his plane for a sunset flight.  
  
~Flashback~  
  
I don't know why I went to the hanger that day, dressed like I was. I told Danny that I was going out with the girls, but that was only partially true. I bought that outfit earlier that day and put it on when I came home, even though the girls and I weren't going out for quite sometime. I dolled myself up real fancy like and set out for the hanger. One of the patients that came into the hospital earlier in the afternoon had been injured, not severely, during what he said were gun tests of the army planes. So I knew Danny would be there. I needed to see him something bad. The day before I wrapped up my few momentous of Rafe, letters and such, and tucked them deep into my drawer. I knew it was time to move on and I said my good-byes there to Rafe.  
  
God, Danny had been my rock throughout the 3 months after Rafe died and I don't know what I would have done without him. I didn't or ever did love Danny like I love Rafe....no, the love that me and Rafe had was the kind that only came along only once in a lifetime, if you were that lucky. Danny was special to me though and I did love him. But the love I held for Rafe was all consuming, it was hot, explosive ,and it was everything I had. When I thought Rafe was dead, it nearly killed me too. I think that I originally turned towards Danny because he was so much like Rafe and it was what I needed at the moment. All I wanted was Rafe then.  
  
But as I came to know Danny better and better, I learned that he had his own charm and personality, and that's what I loved about him. He was tough, a true army man, but he was also quite and sensitive with a heart of 24 karat gold. He would write me poetry during the spare moments in his day and give it to me when I saw him that night. I found out that we even shared a passion for Shakespeare. He would recite it to me.  
  
It was amusing to see the boys clear out of the hanger and even more amusing to see Gooz come back and stammer like he did. He was worse than Red. Anyway, the way Danny's friends acted gave me a glimmer of hope that he had feelings for me and I was overjoyed that he took the bait and asked me to go flying with him at sunset. I called to the girls to tell them that I wouldn't be going out with them because I had a date. I didn't tell them who, but by then, they had an idea. Martha and Betty actually coached me on my date etiquette if you'll believe that.  
  
As the sun was setting Danny snuck me into his plane and we soared through the clouds. Danny was right; the sunset from up there was 100 times more beautiful than it was on the ground. But it was a bittersweet feeling; watching the sunset reminded me of Rafe and the times we spent watching the sun go down. God, I missed him. Anyway, my daddy had taken me up in his plane a few times when I was a small girl, and I enjoyed the feeling. He would tease and scare me by doing barrel rolls in the air. I would shriek and tell him not to do it again, but I loved it. I implored Danny not to do those flips, and he, ever the gentleman, consented. Then he got the sweetest, boyish smile on his face and did it anyway! Course, that's what I wanted him to do.. We were in the air for much longer than expected, just talking and laughing. Danny even let me fly for a time! I realized what a special person Danny truly was that night and I was sorry when the night ended as we touched down on the runway.  
  
I felt a rush of excitement as the yardman saw us touchdown and started to yell at us. Danny pushed me out of the cockpit and told me to run into the hanger. I hid inside one of the parachutes and swirled it around me, like a princess would with her dress when she was on her way to a ball.  
  
Danny followed a few seconds later and his in the parachutes with me. He pulled me close and held his breath as the yardman came into the hanger. I held my breath too, but not for fear of getting caught, but because I was pressed up against Danny's very masculine frame. We heard the yardman leave and Danny let out a long breath of relief.  
  
"I thought I was gonna get it for sure. Hey, y'all right?" He said so softly, with a hint of Tennessee twang in his voice. I smiled at that and thought he sounded so much like Rafe.  
  
"Fine.." I said, glancing up to meet his puppy dog, brown eyes. Danny leaned down and kissed me as I sighed. My head swam and he kissed me again. There was so much passion in that next kiss, it took my breath away. Rafe had never even kissed me like that. We kissed again and again and when my lips were thoroughly swollen and my heart beating so fast, Danny laid me down on the soft parachutes with his body half over mine and continued to kiss me.  
  
"Ev..I have never done this before, have you?"  
  
"No." I replied softly, surprised by his confession. For such a good kisser and such a handsome man, I would have thought that he would have had his fair share of women by now. But I knew this was Danny, and Danny wasn't the type to do something like that.  
  
"I don't think I'll be able to stop if I go much further, my heart is pounding. Do you want me to stop? I will if you want." I didn't want him to stop. As my answer I pressed my hand to his chest above his heart and then I moved his dog tags and I gently pulled them down to give him my answer. Danny cracked a 1/2 smile as he pulled away, but I could see the apprehension in his eyes and knew the cause.  
  
"Danny, Rafe's gone. He's not comin back. It's just you and me now." I said slowly. Danny nodded sadly, but moved his hands sensuously up my sides to take me blouse off as my hands moved across his hard back to remove his shirt. He was so muscular and fit; I caressed his strong biceps, it was then that fear hit me. God, he was so strong, if he wanted to he could hurt me. Danny seemed to know just what I was thinking and feeling, just as he always did. He kissed the beating pulse of my neck.  
  
"Don't worry Ev. I'll never hurt you," he said as his hands went down the curve of my shoulder. I believed him, besides Rafe, he was the only guy I ever truly trusted. My body relaxed and at his words and the gentle, wielding pleasure of his soft lips. Almost magically, our clothes were removed and forgotten. It was then that I saw what Danny looked like all over. As a nurse, I was familiar with the male anatomy, but never had it affected so. Danny positioned himself so his fit body was covering my slight one and he supported himself by his elbows and forearms, his strong muscles flexing.  
  
"Ev.. I'll try not to hurt you, but it will hurt at first. It will get better, I promise, OK?" I nodded, not trusting to voice to speak. As I did, Danny carefully adjusted our hips so his member was at my entrance. As he kissed my neck, he slid into me and I gasped from the pain. Tears ran down my face and Danny looked into my eyes as he leaned down and kissed the tears and ran his tongue up their salty tracks.  
  
But as Danny began to slowly move my hips in a rhythm with his, the pain slowly subsided and was replaced by a pleasure. A good kind of pleasure that made me feel like I was walking on air. Sweat rivulets ran down Danny's face as we continued to move in that ancient rhythm, and pooled in the hollow between his neck and shoulder. Moving my lips to it, I liked it dry and Danny moved his lips softly down my breast as a moan rose in my throat. Danny moved his lips quickly back up to silence I, for fear that the night watchman would hear it and come to investigate it. Time slowed as pleasure increased and the time came to a standstill as the buildup of pressure grew to epic proportions and then was released in a rush in a brief instant. I cried out Danny's name as my hands clenched his shoulders, my nails leaving little half moon marks on his shoulders. A minute later, Danny came, spitting his hot, life-giving seed into my body.  
  
We basked in the warm afterglow of our love making, too tired for anything else, and even talking. Our reverie was broken by the sound of 12 sharp whistles in the air from the Arizona, indicating it was midnight.  
  
"Damn, I'm late for curfew." I said as I reluctantly got up from the protective circle of Danny's arms. I gathered my clothes up and put them on, as Danny watched from below. His bottom was half covered by a parachute. He then got up and gathered his garments and dressed, as I watched, semi-embarrassed. We hurried out to his car and he took me home. We didn't say a word on the ride back and he only said goodnight and kissed me when we were in front of my place. I hurried inside and watched from the screen porch as he rode away.  
  
~End Flashback~  
  
The time we spent together after that was glorious. I grew to love Danny, although I missed Rafe terribly. I began to get sick in the middle of November and pregnancy never crossed my mind until I, on chance, found my symptoms in the medical journal. That night I also found out Rafe was alive. I had just looked up from my journal and saw him standing outside the glass doors. The pregnancy was not a terrible shock to me. Yes, it shocked me and I was surprised, but I knew Danny wanted children, and I knew that he would marry me. He had talked about getting married. I loved, and spending my life with him could've proven to be enjoyable. But with Rafe back and the attack on Pearl, and Danny leaving on Doolittle's Raids, I never got to tell him.  
  
It was then that I thought of our child, and my hands unconsciously stole to my belly where I rubbed a lump beginning to form. I wasn't showing too much just yet. The girls seemed to think it was rather romantic, me having a child of my lover after he had died. Morbid but rather sweet. Sort of a way knowing he would always be with me. My hand moved up from my belly to my neck, where Danny's army ring hung. Rafe had given it to me along with a letter that Danny had written. I immediately put it on the chain that bore my cross, and I planned to leave it there.  
  
My reverie was interrupted by the crunching of sand beneath feet and I looked up to see Rafe standing there. He smiled sadly and settled into the sand beside me.  
  
"Hey... watcha thinking about?" He said as he looked over at me. I knew that he was dying to put an arm around my shoulders but didn't, out of respect for Danny.  
  
"Life, and how it works in mysterious ways sometimes." I said as I glanced back at him. I scooted closer and leaned on his shoulder, letting him know I need his comforting presence. It was strange to have Rafe back with me. I was shocked senseless about Rafe's return and then the bombing happened. The hysteria surrounding it just added to the confusion I was already feeling. I mean, what do you do when you think the man you loved is dead, and you've already said your goodbyes to him and he suddenly shows up out of the blue one day?  
  
Yes, the thought had crossed my mind that Rafe's death was a very bad dream, and that he was still alive; but I never thought my dreams would come true. Plus, I had no idea what to do because I had to choose between two men I loved. I desperately wanted to choose Rafe, but I knew that I had an obligation to Danny and to our baby. I went to tell Rafe at the motel on the day they left. I didn't tell Danny about this child for a specific reason, so he'd keep his mind on the mission and return home to me safely. I wondered then that if I had told Danny about the baby, he would've been more careful not to sacrifice himself.  
  
"That it does." Rafe said quietly. His eyes were brimming with tears. "I was the one who was supposed to protect Danny. I was the older one and it was my job to. I've been doing it all our lives. I would've died for that kid without thinking twice. But, instead it was him who was protecting me. He crashed his plane to save my ass and he was the one who took the bullets, and died so I wouldn't have to. He should've lived. He should be the one sitting here right now. Do you know how guilty I feel right now?"  
  
"I know Rafe. Anyway I've been thinking a lot. I've decided that I'm going to name the baby Daniel Walker if it's a boy and Danielle Walker if it's a girl, after its father." I said changing the subject. I did have an idea of how guilty he felt, but I didn't want to say it out loud. Rafe nodded.  
  
"He'd like that, I think. Danny knew he was going to be a father, Eveyln. I told him right before he died. He was happy, if you could've seen the look on his face." Rafe said, his eyes returning to the rice paddy in China where Danny had died. He stopped talking abruptly, knowing this was a sore subject with me. I was feeling guilty enough as it is for not telling Danny about the baby without anyone's help.  
  
"After that, he said that, well, he said that he wanted me to be the father to his child. I don't know any other way to raise a child than being with you. Evelyn, what I'm trying to say is, will you marry me?"  
  
I was shocked, but I still had my dignity. I didn't want to marry because of pity or some manly pact. I wanted love, I deserved love.  
  
"Rafe......I don't think…" I began. Rafe held up a hand.  
  
"I know what you're thinking, that I'm asking you to marry me solely because of the child and because of Danny's death. It's not true. I knew you were the one for me since I saw you come to the station to see me off before I went to England. And when I was in that water, I knew that I was going to ask you to marry me. When I was in France, I even bought you this ring.." Rafe said as he withdrew a box from his pocket and handed it to me. I opened it up and saw a beautiful sapphire set in gold.  
  
"I was going to give it to you that night, I saw you in the hospital. But then I knew you were with Danny and I had to step back. Danny was the best friend I've ever known or will know, and his happiness, and yours was all I wanted. So I didn't say anything. But I love you Evelyn, more than words can say, and I want you to be my wife. I will raise up Danny's child as my own, yes, but I hope to have many more of our own. Evelyn Johnson, will you marry me?"  
  
"Oh God, Rafe! Yes!" I said crying as I had been through his speech. I hugged him fiercely and kissed him. We got up and I glanced across the ocean towards the horizon, where the last sliver of the sun was disappearing below the sea. The thought crossed through my mind that it was a sunset just like the one of the night Danny and I made love and I thought he had sent it to me, to let me know that he was all right. That put a smile on my lips as we went back to the car, with Danny's words hanging in my mind.  
  
The Hawaiians called this harbor Wai Momi. It means Sea of Pearls. I thought they were right, I found two special pearls there, one's changed my life forever.  
  
Rafe and I got married the next day, right before we went back to Tennessee to bury Danny's body at home. If there was anything that we learned from all this, it was how precious life and time was, and we didn't want to waste one second of either. There was a will in Danny's personal things that left the farm, which he inherited from his father and planned to work on after the war, to Rafe as long as Danny could be buried there, in the dirt he loved so much and underneath the Tennessee sky where he had found his love of flying.  
  
Rafe and I got honorable discharges from the military with the option to return, and we settled down on the farm. Months later, I gave birth to a son, Daniel Walker McCawley, who Rafe swore looked exactly like Danny as a boy. We felt that it was important to tell little Danny about his father as soon as he was old enough to understand, but truth to be told, little Danny's bedtime stories were Rafe's versions of the times he and Danny had as boys.  
  
Little Danny is four now, and it's the 5th anniversary of his fathers death, and today for the first time we took him to his fathers grave and told him the whole story. I know he's not old enough to comprehend how great of a hero his father was, but someday he will. The sun is setting across the cornfield as I write this, in my rocking chair on the screen porch. Whenever I think of a sunset, I think of the sunsets I watched with Danny. He will forever be in a sacred place in my heart. Sometimes, I think that he's been reincarnated as his son. Little Danny's mannerisms are so much like the father he never knew. It comforts me to know that even without the raising of his biological father, Little Danny still knows him so well, even if he doesn't know it. 


End file.
